Talk about micromanaging...

When N (4!) gets up in the morning she doesn't want to go to the bathroom. I don't understand this. Her father doesn't understand this. Her nanny doesn't understand this. I'm sure most people out there don't understand this phenomenon. Having to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom is one of the annoying things about getting old. N doesn't even seem to have to go after a whole night.

Most mornings she won't go until you make convince her she should go. This convincing can take the form of bribes or threats. (Bribe: You can watch Dora. Threat: Okay, we can't go to preschool until you go to the bathroom. Bribe/Threat combo: Okay, no Dora until you go to the bathroom and then you can watch her.) I feel like such a micromanager because I have to a) keep track of whether she's gone to the bathroom in the morning, and b) convince her to go.

We used to have battles of will over this, but I have learned some tricks when she is feeling extremely stubborn...

1) Set a timer and tell her she can wait to go to the bathrooom when the timer goes off.
2) Bribe, Threat, Bribe/Threat combo depending on her mood of the day.

I realize she's only 4. But, she's fully potty-trained and has been totally dry since 2 years 9 months. She's had exactly 2 accidents since then. They have both been because she's not wanted to stop doing what she was doing to go to the bathroom until too late. I can't complain, but it just seems so odd to me to have to keep track of this bodily function for her. I realize that every other Mom also has to keep track of this, but it is odd. It only takes a minute or two to go to the bathroom, wash hands and all that. Why don't they just do it??